The Uttar Pradesh government has asked Bareilly’s district magistrate Raghvendra Vikram Singh and Amethi’s subdivisional magistrate Ashok Shukla to explain their controversial social media posts on administrative and governance issues, an officer has said.

The government has issued a chargesheet to Singh and a notice to Shukla and asked them to reply on the issue within 15 days, the officer of the state appointments and personnel department said on Tuesday.

If their replies were found unsatisfactory, an investigating officer will be appointed to look into both the cases for further action, the officer added.

The 2005 batch promotee Indian Administrative Service officer’s comment, posted on Facebook two days after a 23-year-old man was killed during a ‘tiranga yatra’ on January 26 in Kasganj, created a flutter in the social and political circles.

Singh’s post went viral on social media, drawing the government’s attention and prompting the department of appointment and personnel to seek a report from Bareilly divisional commissioner PV Jaganmohan within 24 hours.

Jaganmohan recommended action against Singh in his report. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath gave the go-ahead for serving a charge sheet to Singh following the probe report, the officer said.

Shukla said in his social media post that meetings were taking a toll on the health of officers. The Amethi DM’s report recommended action against Shukla.